itshalfempty

2025 is the first year, probably ever, that I consistently read books throughout the year (18 in total). While I did read a lot while traveling, the big change this year was just being a lot more intentional about reading before going to sleep. 30 minutes (or sometimes an hour) every night now helps me clear my mind and get “sleep ready”. And at that pace, most books can be finished well within a month.

Since we’re at the end of the year, I wanted to take a few moments to list the books I’ve read this year. I’ll share some brief thoughts, but mostly I hope this serves as a good reminder to myself about healthy habits as I get ready to get back into the workforce.

Fighting For Space

This non-fiction book tells the story of two female aviators in the early days of aviation and space flight - Jackie Cochran and Jerrie Cob. Very cool read about two public, talented, and accomplished pilots of their time. I wish I had picked up a physical copy though, as there are a ton of photos in the appendix that just don’t look very good in e-book format.

All Quiet on the Western Front

I don’t really know why I chose to read this book, but I’m glad I did. One of the many sad war stories about both the horrors of war and the impact it has on the young people we ask to fight them. I found the English translation a little jarring – if my German were better I’d probably have tried to read the original.

Intermezzo

This book popped up on a few recommendation lists, and I picked it up without knowing anything else about the book or the author. I’m not typically the biggest contemporary fiction fan, but I really enjoyed this book. The writing style was pretty jarring at first but I grew to really like it.

Warbreaker

I’m not the biggest Sanderson fan. I took a break from him after reading the first Mistborn trilogy last year, and picked Warbreaker since it’s a standalone novel. This one was much like the rest of his work. It’s a page turner with fairly uninteresting characters, an unique and well-crafted magic system, and functional prose.

Shades of Magic series (Books 1 & 2)

This is the second V.E. Schwab series I read. I read the two books back-to-back and thought they were alright. I liked the second book significantly more than the first. The story itself was fun, but I was a bit surprised at how weak the world-building was in book 1.

The Bright Sword

A reimagined Arthurian quest? Sure, why not! I thought the story itself was interesting, but even though this book isn’t all that long, I found it to be quite a slog. Serious characters in absurd settings, which I liked. The book felt much longer than it needed to be.

The Farseer Trilogy (Books 1, 2, 3)

This series has been on my “To Read” list for a long time, and I’m sad it took me so long to get to it. I loved each of the three books in this series. They are so well written and the characters are so rich and so flawed.

James

A retelling of Huckleberry Finn, from the perspective of Jim. This short book is a super quick read, and I’m very glad to have picked it up. Largely about slavery and identity, but without abandoning the adventurous journey down the river.

1Q84

I don’t remember how this book made it into my “To Read” list, but a lot of people really like Murakami. That said, maybe he’s not my jam. This book was long, very long. And full of a lot of nothing. I considered abandoning this book many times but figured there had to be a big pay-off. There wasn’t.

The Wright Brothers

I learned way more about the development of flight and the Wright Brothers than I thought I would. It’s fascinating to me just how complex and unknown flight dynamics were at the time, and despite that, two bicycle mechanics managed to somehow assemble a contraption out of wood, canvas, and a huge engine and somehow get it off the ground. Great book, lots of photos - another one that I wish I had read as a physical book.

The Devils

I’m a huge fan of Abercrombie’s First Law world, and I decided to give the first entry of his new series a try. The first half of the book was slow, but the second half really picked up and was worth a read. The book is dark and funny, and the characters are absurd but lovable. I’m not sure what book 2 will look like given the ending of this one, but I’m looking forward to it.

Katabasis

I saw this book show up on several recommendation lists, and I jumped in without much research. I really didn’t like this book. Fortunately it was an easy read and short, but I found the characters unlikeable, the pacing strange, and the character motivations uncompelling. Much of the book felt like the author was trying to prove they were smarter than the reader, with frequent conversations about math and philosophy that served only to dump a bunch of technical terms onto the reader with no depth.

Careless People

This book was recommended to me by a couple of friends, and I finally got around to reading it. I had thought I knew a lot about Facebook’s dirty history, but boy oh boy was there a lot I was unaware of! While nothing was truly shocking, it was great to get more context about the inner workings of Facebook in the earlier days, how the quest for more growth really poisoned the mission of the company, and Zuckerberg’s political ambitions.

Liveship Traders (Books 1 & 2)

A return to Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings! I’m currently reading the third book of this series. In many ways, I’m enjoying this series more than The Farseer Triology. There are multiple strong POV characters and the interwoven plots are all compelling - combined with rich story telling and strong writing.